Garlic Soup

October 7, 2012

ON A CHILLY AUTUMN EVENING, I can always count on Garlic Soup to warm my soul. This Aigo Bouido is fast, easy and inexpensive to make. And served with toasted rounds of French bread, it makes a magnificent lunch. It also makes a first-class first-course for dinner. Can I offer you a taste?

To start, smash the individual cloves of garlic. I smashed mine with a stout drinking glass.

Drop the smashed garlic — including the paper skins, if they are still clinging to the garlic — into the saucepan of water.

Then add the salt, pepper, cloves and herbs to the saucepan.

Note: Do you have tons of sage in your garden? Me too. Use it for this soup.

Another note: Use the flat-leaved type parsley for this soup. It is infinitely-more peppery than its curly-leaved kin.

Bring the broth ingredients to a boil. Then let the broth simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, grate or shred the cheese, and then place it in a pretty bowl. You’ll be passing this bowl around after you serve the soup.

Did someone say cheese?

Now prepare the croutons. Take a loaf of French bread (homemade is awesome), and cut it into 1/2-inch slices.

Set the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Let them dry out in a 325-degree oven until they are definitely crisp but only lightly browned — about 25 minutes.

Back to the soup. Strain the broth through a mesh sieve set over a bowl. Press down on the strained ingredients with the back of a wooden spoon — you want all the garlicky herby-ness to wind up in the bowl.

I hope your mouth is watering right about now.

There are no pictures for this next step, because it requires two hands: Whisk together 3 egg yolks until thick — about 15 seconds. Then gradually add one 1/4 cup olive oil, whisking all the while, to form a rich, uber-delicious sauce.

Pour the sauce into your soup tureen. Then whisk in a tiny amount of hot broth to temper the egg mixture, and thus keep the eggs from scrambling. Finally, add the rest of the broth and whisk to blend.

The soup will be perfectly delicious at this point. But it will look a little dull. Perk up the picture with minced parsley.

Just sprinkle the parsley over the soup, and then stir it in.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls. Then pass the cheese and toasted bread around.

Folks, this soup is mellow, herbal, and about as comforting as a big old hug. Promise me you’ll try it some day.

Place all of the broth ingredients into a 3-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil, then partially cover the pan, and let simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve set over a large bowl, pushing down on the ingredients with the back of a wooden spoon to help extract their juices.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks until thick — about 15 seconds. Then gradually whisk in the olive oil until a thick, rich sauce develops — about 30 seconds.

Pour the egg mixture into a soup tureen or large serving bowl. Whisking all the while, add one 1/2 cup hot broth to the egg mixture. Then whisk in the remaining broth. Stir in the minced parsley.

To serve, ladle the soup into cups or bowls, letting guests add the shredded cheese to their own soup portion. Pass the toasted bread.

If you enjoy the recipes at A Garden for the House, by all means let me know. You can’t imagine how much your comments mean to me.

Thanks for the recipe. This was always a favorite on mine in a Mexican restaurant that has long since closed now…I always wanted a recipe for it but everything I always see has some differences. This one is right on the nose.

Oh .. lovely .. lovely ..lovely recipe! I will be making this often. I’ve been growing garlic for a few years (as a matter of fact, I’m planting some today!) Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
Also, how could I use up the egg whites? Do you have any little recipes for these? I was brought up not to waste food and so wouldn’t like to just discard these.

thank you … souffle sounds good (and no waste) .. much appreciated!! A.M.
p.s., I was wondering about the “2 1/4 cups for 8 servings” .. now, that would be very gourmet cooking with such tiny servings! Good catch!!

New fan!!!!! Love your site and just made the garlic soup. I thought three cloves referred to two heads of garlic plus three cloves I’ll try it next time with three cloves.
This is so yummy, even my nearly five year old little boy, Jack, loved it. We had it for lunch on this raw and chilly day in the South.
Thank you so much and look forward to visiting your site often now.
Have a great day !!!!!
-Brenda

Just love this site!!! My favorite !!
Just wanted to share that I planted 2 beds of organic garlic last fall (50 large cloves)so looking forward to trying this soup….my hubby and I love garlic and its the first thing we grab when we get the sniffles.
Thank you for this wonderful web site!! Its an inspiration!!

Kevin, I have enjoyed your Letter via E Mail,house, garden, cooking for a long time. I especially love the thought of the Fireplce since I am in Florida and don’t have one. I cxan imagine this wonderful soup, with a fire and friends…Ahh

This has become my go to recipe when there’s sickness in the house, and with my daughter having started kindergarten this year plus the weather, I’ve made it more than a couple times! We all love it as it is so flavorful that even with a cold its still yummy, yet it is not overwhelming in an upset tummy either.

About Kevin Lee Jacobs

Kevin is an award-winning food, garden and lifestyle guru who lives in New York's Hudson Valley (zone 5-b) . His recipes have appeared in dozens of newspapers. He has contributed countless gardening articles to African Violet Magazine, Berkshire Home Style Magazine, and Garden Design Magazine.